FTC Requests Public Comment on an Application from Praxair and Linde to Approve Sale of Industrial Gases Assets to a Messer Group GmbH/CVC Capital Partners Joint Venture

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The Federal Trade Commission is currently accepting public comments on an application from Praxair, Inc. and Linde AG to divest industrial gases assets to a joint venture between Messer Group GmbH and CVC Capital Partners. Messer will maintain majority control of the joint venture. The divestiture of the assets is required under the FTC’s Oct. 22, 2018, proposed order requiring Praxair and Linde to divest certain industrial gases assets to settle charges that their $80 billion merger would violate federal antitrust law.

The application proposes that the Messer/CVC joint venture will acquire from Praxair and Linde facilities that produce bulk liquid oxygen, nitrogen, and argon, bulk liquid carbon dioxide, bulk refined helium, excimer laser gases, and bulk liquid hydrogen. The Commission will decide whether to approve the application after a 30-day public comment period, which expires on Jan. 21, 2019. Comments can be filed electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the “Supplementary Information” section of the Federal Register notice. (FTC File No. 171 0068; the staff contact is Eric Rohlck, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2681.)